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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26408605">Family Ever After</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalysAlankil/pseuds/TalysAlankil'>TalysAlankil</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Family Feels, Found Family, Gen, Post-Canon, implied unrequired lauriam/KHUX player, implied unrequited strelitzia/KHUX player, mentioned Elrena/Elsa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:00:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,781</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26408605</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalysAlankil/pseuds/TalysAlankil</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Keyblade War, Lauriam and Elrena find a way to bring Strelitzia back. She finds she has a lot to catch up on.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Elrena &amp; Lauriam (Kingdom Hearts), Elrena &amp; Strelitzia (Kingdom Hearts), Lauriam &amp; Strelitzia (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Family Ever After</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the KH Trio Zine</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her eyes opened to the sound of a deep sigh of relief. It took a moment for her vision to come into focus. When it did, she thought she was dreaming for a moment.</p>
<p>The pink shade of his hair was unmistakable, but everything else about her brother had changed. He was so <em>tall</em>, so <em>broad</em>. When had <em>that</em> happened? The Lauriam she remembered was barely bigger than her!</p>
<p>Blinking the daze away, Strelitzia sat up and looked around. "What—" Her last memories were of a dark house inside Daybreak town, and she was now in what looked like a laboratory. This wasn't the Master's facilities she had seen with Master Ava once, though; it was all too different, less elegant, more gloomy and clinical.</p>
<p>Her question died when her gaze returned to her brother, and the blond woman next to her. "Lauriam? And…Elrena? You guys have changed so much," she said in a whisper. "Did—did the war happen? Is this the outside world the Dandelions were supposed to go to?"</p>
<p>A sad smile came to Lauriam's lips. "You have a lot to catch up on."</p>
<hr/>
<p>It was a lot to catch up on—the Keyblade Wars, the World being split into many worlds, her friends leaping through time and forgetting who they were, until a new hero of the Keyblade had helped Lauriam remember who he was fighting for all along. She learned that she had been murdered, too—or something like it. Neither Lauriam nor Elrena would go into the details.</p>
<p>Strelitzia felt like her head was spinning from information overload, but she wanted to know <em>everything</em>. It was Lauriam who forced them to take a break, so she could visit some of this new world she had been brought back into. The lab was in the basement of an abandoned mansion in a place called Twilight Town, Lauriam explained, and he insisted the three of them should head into town proper.</p>
<p>"There's this place I've been wanting to go to," he added as they crossed the mansion's threshold. "A f—Someone I know told me about it, but it didn't feel worth seeing without you."</p>
<p>"Oh?" Elrena perked up at that. "Fine, but <em>I'm</em> taking Strelitzia to buy ice cream, then. Meet you there!"</p>
<p>Lauriam's gasp died on his lips as Elrena took Strelitzia's hand and dashed off into the surrounding woods. It was all she could do not to trip and fall, so she cast her brother an apologetic smile. "See you in a bit!"</p>
<hr/>
<p>"There's something I'd been meaning to tell you," Elrena said as they headed uphill with three pops of sea salt ice cream.</p>
<p>Strelitzia was still busy enough taking in the sights of Twilight Town that it was hard to focus, so it took her a moment to respond. "Uh…yeah?"</p>
<p>"All this time, trying to figure out what happened to you, and then trying to save you, it made me realize…I wasn't a very good friend to you at the time, was I? We were in the same party, but I never—"</p>
<p>"What're you talking about, Elrena?" Strelitzia couldn't hold back a gentle smile—if a tad confused. "I thought of you as one of my only friends."</p>
<p>"Really? 'Cause I thought you were all about brooding on your own over that other Keyblade wielder you wanted to recruit into the Dandelions, and you wanted nothing to do with us."</p>
<p>"Well—" Strelitzia felt a slight blush spread to her cheeks, and let out an embarrassed giggle. "I was a little like that, wasn't I? But it doesn't mean I didn't care about you."</p>
<p>"Then—how come you were alone, that day?"</p>
<p>Strelitzia didn't need to ask what day she was referring to. "It just—seemed like something I had to do by myself. That doesn't mean we weren't <em>friends</em>, Elrena!"</p>
<p>"I—<em>oh</em>." A smile briefly formed on her lips, then Elrena narrowed her eyes and looked away with a haughty sniff. "Well, fine. I guess you're right, then, it <em>was</em> your own stupidity."</p>
<p>"You haven't changed, Elrena," Strelitzia said, laughing all the more. She looked older, and more guarded than before, but her core was still the same. "If anything, I owe you my thanks. For sticking with my brother through so much, for my sake."</p>
<p>"I don't know if she deserves that," Lauriam said sardonically, startling Strelitzia as he caught up with them. They had reached a train station atop the hill—at least, that's what the signs said. Though what really drew Strelitzia's eye was the massive clock tower above it.</p>
<p>It reminded her so much of home, of the Foretellers' tower looming over Daybreak Town. It was all Strelitzia could do to stare at the clock tower and remember the first time she'd been inside that other tower.</p>
<p>"Thought you might like it," Lauriam said with a smile. "Come on, I hear the view's much better from up there."</p>
<p>"Up <em>there</em>?" Strelitzia asked, but her brother was already leading her inside.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Lauriam <em>was</em> right about the view, she had to give him that. Even if she couldn't shake a hint of terror at the void below her, Strelitzia wouldn't pass on it for the world.</p>
<p>"Be careful. Brain freeze is a real threat," Elrena chided her as she devoured her ice cream.</p>
<p>"I think my brain could use being frozen for a moment," Strelitzia confessed, but she wasn't feeling as lost as she had back in the lab. Sure, she had awoken to a whole new world. But it was beautiful in its own way, and she had the two most important people in her life by her side, and above all, there was no war looming over them. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all.</p>
<p>"You know, if being frozen is what you want, there's a world <em>I</em> could show you."</p>
<p>On Strelitzia's other side, Lauriam chuckled. "You can introduce Strelitzia to your girlfriend later."</p>
<p>"Girlfriend?" Strelitzia turned from him to Elrena, inquisitive.</p>
<p>"Elsa's not my <em>girlfriend</em>! She doesn't even know I exist!"</p>
<p>"But you <em>want</em> her to be," Lauriam pointed out. "Who can blame you, really?"</p>
<p>Elrena's eyes narrowed again, and Strelitzia prepared for the storm with a strange sense of anticipation. "Oh, this is so <em>precious</em>, teasing me about my feelings! Because you guys have never been romantic disasters before! I mean, it's not like Strelitzia was stalking that wielder, back in the day—"</p>
<p>"Hey!" Strelitzia felt her blush return, but she laughed. "What'd <em>I</em> do?"</p>
<p>"And then <em>you</em>, Lauriam, had to fall in love with the same wielder too, even though they were a person of interest in your sister's murder!"</p>
<p>Lauriam recoiled visibly and looked away, embarrassed. "You <em>knew</em> about that?"</p>
<p>"Oh please. Even when we were Nobodies and I remembered nothing of our past, I still <em>knew</em> about your tendency to fall for heroes." She chuckled. "I bet if the new crop of heroes weren't so <em>young</em>, you'd have fallen in love with one of them too!"</p>
<p>Lauriam groaned and hid his face in his hands, but not before Strelitzia caught a glimpse of a smile. "<em>Is</em> there someone right now?" she asked, teasing.</p>
<p>"Strely! Don't start too!"</p>
<p>His whining made her and Elrena burst out laughing, but Lauriam soon joined them.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Strelitzia was a little sad about leaving the top of the clock tower, but that didn't last long, as it meant seeing more of the town. Lauriam and Elrena took her to a famous bistrot and an outdoor movie theater, and they ended up wandering the streets aimlessly, chatting and enjoying their time together.</p>
<p>They passed a group of teens about Strelitzia's age, who cast weird glances at them, though one of them gave Lauriam and Elrena a polite nod before moving on. "Friend of yours?" Strelitzia asked.</p>
<p>"More like a brat we used to work with," Elrena said.</p>
<p>"We're working on the friendship part," Lauriam added more diplomatically. "They did let us use the lab, after all."</p>
<p>"Oh." Strelitzia wasn't sure why these teens had access to such a sophisticated lab, but she knew there was still a lot for her to catch up with. "Well, should I thank them, then?"</p>
<p>"Maybe later. You're not missing out by not knowing them," Elrena said.</p>
<p>Lauriam only chuckled. "You know you don't need to act like you hate them anymore, right?"</p>
<p>"I'm not <em>acting</em>! Just because we're not mortal enemies doesn't mean I have to <em>like</em> all these overpowered kids!"</p>
<p>"I don't know about that, though. Sounds like you were pretty keen to tell Sora all about your complex motivations. You told him you were just along for the ride, didn't you?"</p>
<p>Elrena groaned. "Of <em>course</em> he told you about it."</p>
<p>"He seemed certain you were doing it for someone's sake." Lauriam raised a smug eyebrow at that.</p>
<p>Strelitzia tilted her head, curious, then turned to Elrena. "Oh?"</p>
<p>"I never said that! I said it was my secret."</p>
<p>"Thanks anyway, Elrena," Lauriam simply said.</p>
<p>Elrena shrugged. "Yeah, yeah. Strely tried to thank me too. I don't know what you're all so <em>grateful</em> for. You guys are so much alike. You're like siblings!"</p>
<p>"We <em>are</em> siblings, Captain Obvious," Strelitzia pointed out with a soft giggle.</p>
<p>"Yeah. I know. I'm just saying—"</p>
<p>Strelitzia chose to ignore her protest. "But—you and Lauriam have a lot in common too, right? All these adventures you had together." She noticed their shared wince, and realized her euphemism was maybe in poor taste, but she pressed on. "Just look at you now! You're making the same face!"</p>
<p>"Strely—" Lauriam tried to say, but she ignored him too.</p>
<p>"My point is, you did do so much for us, Elrena. I think, in a way, <em>you're</em> like our sister too."</p>
<p>That managed to shut her up, but Strelitzia briefly panicked when she saw the way she recoiled. Before she could escape, Lauriam stepped forward, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, then pulling Strelitzia in with his other arm. "Strely's right."</p>
<p>Elrena scoffed. "I liked you better when we planned coups together."</p>
<p>Lauriam's smile didn't waver. "Sure you did."</p>
<p>Strelitzia laughed, and threw her own arms around their backs—it was all she could reach, now that she was so much shorter than them. It felt good to be back, to be <em>here</em> with them. It felt hard to think of all she'd missed, of all they'd gone through to get her back, but above all, she was happy to be here now, in this moment.</p>
<p>She couldn't think of the right words to say all of that, so she just said, "I missed you guys."</p>
<p>Beside her, Elrena put an arm across her shoulder, closing the circle.</p>
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